1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to footwear, and in particular the present invention relates to articles of footwear that include lacing systems and straps for tightening the upper to a wearer's foot.
2. Description of Related Art
Multiple systems for improved closure of an article of footwear to a wearer's foot have been proposed. Fanolare (U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,297) discloses a lacing system for an athletic shoe or sneaker applied in conjunction with a cinch-type closure disposed in throat region of footwear. The Fanolare cinch-type closure mechanism is comprised of a strap with a hook and loop closure region and a mating hook and loop closure region on upper. Brown (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 304,338) discloses a lacing system for an athletic shoe or sneaker applied in conjunction with a strap disposed through an opening on shoe upper. The strap has two mating hook and loop regions to secure tension applied by strap. Both closure systems proposed by Fanolare and Brown provide a strap disposed across the throat region of upper over the proximal region of the forefoot. A drawback to these proposed multiple fastening systems is that the combined fastening systems are not mechanically linked, which may not provide sufficient closure force to the articles of footwear. Furthermore, these systems provide strap closure systems disposed such that they will not apply closure to the distal region of the forefoot or the knuckles of the toes.
Footwear including a lacing system and multiple straps for tightening an upper to a wearer's foot have also been disclosed. In these systems, strap closure mechanisms may be disposed on the distal region of the forefoot. Marks (U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,864) discloses a footwear fastening system and method of converting a lace fastening system to a hook and loop fastening system. The fastening system incorporates tubular posts disposed between eyelets and laced to the upper by a lacing system. Subsequently, a plurality of hook and loop strips are disposed around tubular posts to provide a closure mechanism to upper. This system does not provide multiple closure systems that are mechanically linked, and often it may be required to have a combination of mechanically linked fastening mechanisms to provide the desired closure forces to an article of footwear.
Suzuki (U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,500) discloses a shoe fastening system containing a medial strap and a lateral strap. The lateral strap contains an elongated aperture wider than the medial strap and is secured to the medial aspect of upper with a hook and loop mechanism. The medial strap is inserted into aperture during fastening and is secured to the lateral aspect of the upper with a hook and loop mechanism. This system includes multiple straps for applying closure to the shoe upper. However, sometimes it may be desirable to provide a more evenly distributed closure force, which can be achieved through the use of a lacing system rather than multiple strap fastening systems.
There is a need in the art for an article of footwear that makes use of multiple mechanically linked systems of tightening the footwear upper to a wearer's foot, including a mechanism disposed on the distal region of the forefoot which effectively provides superior closure of upper to all regions of the forefoot.